Another look at 2011 Topps WWE...including a retail HIT!

This post is for all of 3 of us out there that read this blog and collect wrestling cards!  In the midst of moving my man cave at home I ran across a few packs of 2011 Topps WWE that I thought I had opened.  Don't you just love finding stuff you didn't know you had?!  I've got to get my cards better organized.  I know I already did a quick Pack Break post for this set, but I wanted to take another look at the various inserts and parallels that can be had.

Much to my surprise the first insert I pulled out of the packs was a hit!  Retail hit too...meaning much higher odds than if the same card was pulled from a hobby box.  I think the odds were 1:211.

From what I've read it appears Topps beefed up the autograph checklist from last year.  I'm not a huge fan of the Bella Twins, but at least it's a nice card...even if it's a sticker auto.  Hard to make out Brie in the signature, but at least I get a little peace sign.  A lot of the wrestlers this year added something small to their autos.  I'm not attached to the card and would like to swap it for Eve's auto.

Just like relic and game used cards in baseball and other sports are getting watered down I feel the same with wrestling.  While this is a decent card I just don't get the appeal of event used ring mat cards such as this.  And why does it seem all of my wrestling hits lately are of Sheamus?

Prestigious Pairings.  I miss the days of the true tag teams like the Rock 'n Roll Express, Midnight Express, The Road Warriors / Legion of Doom.  These days it's just single competition guys that team together for a special match or until a certain feud is over.  Not too wild about this insert set...but it is one of the better ones.

Catchy Phrases...this set had more potential in my opinion.  These are just...well...boring.  

I think the black parallels are retail exclusives.  They are serially numbered to 999.  Just like with other 2011 Topps releases the serial numbering is that crappy cheap looking black ink.  The other beef I have with these are the boarders.  I didn't crop part of the boarder when scanning the card.  A lot of these parallels have horrible borders / centering.  That and the photos look grainy.

Blue parallels are serially numbered to 2011.  There are even more levels of parallels exclusive to the hobby version.  Why?

  

Finally!  A nice insert set worthy of building!  While others may be tired of the '62 baseball design by now, Heritage continues here.  I like it.  I think it works.  Just wish the set was 50 cards strong.

I like the base design.  The recycled design works for wrestling again this year.  I like getting one insert card per pack.  I just wish more of the inserts were exciting.  While I do plan on building the base set and the Heritage set I don't see myself in a rush to do either.  The checklist is nice, but again the photos seem grainy and some of them seem lazy this year.  I didn't notice too many fuzzy shots in the base baseball or football sets this year so how come the WWE feature less than stellar photography quality.  I don't hate this year's effort, but I can't help but feel that something is really missing.  That said if you want any of the cards shown (minus the Heritage) let me know as they are all available.